The Teacher Who Told Me To Quit

Quit has never really been in my vocabulary. Honestly, I have always felt like it’s better to suck it up and push through… Which is exactly what I was doing my entire senior year of high school. I had been sick, and I mean really sick. In and out of the hospital, trying to get my migraines under control, managing somewhat of a social life, and dating the worst possible guy for me. But I was pushing through. Only having 4 classes each day made things much easier at this time, because I was able to communicate with my teachers and they all really knew me… Well at least all but one.
In November of 2011 I was in the hospital for almost half of that month. That also happened to be when we were studying Beowulf and preparing our “senior research papers” in my English class. Now, this teacher, we’ll call her Mrs. K, had it out for me from the get go. Really. She really had something against me, but I could never figure out why. She would not even acknowledge me or my existence in her classroom. Being in the hospital meant I really needed extra help from my teachers in order to stay on track to graduate in January (I chose to graduate early). I had been out of school for the entire week before my Beowulf paper was due. I had no peer reviews, no teacher reviews, and in all honestly, the paper was doomed. I asked her for help the day before it was due. She looked me in the eyes and told me that she was too busy, and I should not have procrastinated. Uh? Oh? Sorry, I was hooked up to IVs and undergoing constant body scans the last few days, but I understand that you’re “busy.” I turned my paper in anyways.
In the beginning of class the next day she called me to her desk and asked me if I was “planning to try to even go to college,” because I’d “be better off doing something that didn’t require me to really write formally, ever again,” and that I “should probably quit before I even started.”  Holding back tears I just went to my seat. After the verbal beating she privately thrashed me with, she proceed to address the ENTIRE class and told everyone just how awful my paper was. She then proceeded to tell another teacher, whom she knew I was close with… I was devastated. How embarrassing. Not only was my body trying to kill me, but my English teacher was trying to ruin my academic reputation.
I passed her class with a low C. 
Fast forward to now, in my 3rd year of college. I have never received less than an A on any writing assignment or paper I have turned in. I have helped countless peers write their papers. I have proof read, edited, and re edited more papers than I could ever imagine. I’ve taken honors writing classes and guess what? My minor? Yeah, it’s journalism.
So thank you To The Teacher Who Told Me To Quit, Mrs. K, who still, to this day, teaches English at Hebron High School, thank you for telling me I should quit, because just like every 18 year old, I went and did the opposite of what I was told, and I’m rocking at it!

You may also like:

12 comments

  1. Hats off to you, Tiffani! I couldn't imagine having to miss so much school and still being able to stay on track and graduate early. I am glad you have pushed through all the negativity that has been thrown your way. That teacher should be fired because no student deserves that type of treatment.

  2. Thanks! It was so hard. There have been many times I want to write to her and tell her about all of my success, or write the school and tell them about what I went through!

  3. When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I
    get several e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
    Bless you!

  4. Hello there! I just would like to offer you a big thumbs up for your great info
    you have got right here on this post. I’ll be returning to your web
    site for more soon.

  5. Hey there! I know this is kinda off topic but I
    was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment
    form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty
    finding one? Thanks a lot!

  6. If some one desires expert view on the topic of blogging and
    site-building afterward i propose him/her to
    visit this weblog, Keep up the pleasant job.

  7. I’m extremely inspired with your writing talents and also with the structure to
    your weblog. Is that this a paid subject matter or did you customize it your self?
    Anyway stay up the excellent high quality writing, it
    is uncommon to see a great blog like this one these days..

  8. Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about
    this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you
    can do with a few pics to drive the message home a little bit,
    but other than that, this is excellent blog. A fantastic read.
    I’ll certainly be back.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.